Chong Wei helps Mumbai thrash Delhi 4-1

Two-time Olympic silver medallist Lee Chong Wei was finally seen in action in the Indian Badminton League (IBL) as he helped the Mumbai Masters defeat the Krrish Delhi Smashers 4-1 at the National Sports Club of India (NSCI) here Wednesday.

The men's singles World No.1 Chong Wei took a break after the recently concluded World Championships and missed the first two legs of the tournament in New Delhi and Lucknow.

However, the Malaysian returned with a bang as he won not just the men's singles outing but the missed doubles rubber too. In the process, the Masters bagged five points to top the table with the 11 points while the Smashers are fifth with seven.

In the first match of the day, Chong Wei made short work of Smashers' Daren Liew and won 21-12, 21-16 to put the hosts 1-0 ahead. Post his match Chong Wei, later declared the player of the tie, said, "It was a good match. I'm very happy as this victory is very important for me. It's good to win points for the team against such a difficult team."

In the women's singles, Danish great Tine Baun gave the hosts a 2-0 lead after defeating Nagpur girl Arundhati Pantawane 21-11, 21-13.

However, Delhi pulled back a point defeating the Masters' men's doubles pair as the experienced Malaysians Koo Kein Keat and Tan Boon Hoeng overcame B. Sumeet Reddy and Manu Attri 14-21, 21-15, 11-7.

In the second men's singles, Masters' Mark Zweibler won a marathon match against a spirited B. Sai Praneeth. The German won 18-21, 21-10, 11-9 to help Mumbai win the tie.

In the mixed doubles dead rubber, Chong Wei and Tine returned as a pair to go against Delhi's Prajakta Sawant and V. Diju. The hosts gained a healthy lead in the first game but Delhi made a comeback which wasn't enough with Mumbai winning 21-18.

In the second game, Diju and Prajakta turned the tables against their champion opponents winning 21-15 and pushed the match into the decider. The third game, however, easily went in favour of the hosts who won 11-5.

The next leg will be played in Pune from Aug 22-23.